Degrees and padas: where Pushya sits in the zodiac
Pushya is the eighth of the 27 nakshatras and spans 3°20′–16°40′ Cancer (93°20′–106°40′ of the sidereal zodiac, counted from 0° Aries). Each nakshatra is 13°20′ wide, in four padas of 3°20′. All four padas lie in Cancer, so a Pushya Moon is always a Cancer Moon (Rashi). Before it comes Punarvasu; after it, Ashlesha.
| Pada | Degrees in the sign | Sign (Rashi) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3°20′–6°40′ | Cancer |
| 2 | 6°40′–10°00′ | Cancer |
| 3 | 10°00′–13°20′ | Cancer |
| 4 | 13°20′–16°40′ | Cancer |
Pushya lies wholly within Cancer, so the Moon sign never varies; the padas carry Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio Navamsas. The star is among those muhurta texts praise most for ordinary beginnings, with a well-known exception: it is traditionally avoided for the wedding ceremony itself.
What Pushya traditionally signifies
Brihaspati is Jupiter as the gods' chaplain, and the classical significations are priestly and parental at once: counsel, ritual, learning, duty, provision. The udder adds milk, food, generosity and the ability to sustain others for a long time. Saturn as lord adds patience and structure, so the star is read as nourishment that is earned and kept rather than given freely. Pushya is deva gana with the sheep as its yoni animal and is classed as light or swift (laghu), which is why it is chosen for travel, trade, medicine and the start of studies.
Moon in Pushya: how the birth star is traditionally read
A Pushya Moon is traditionally read as caring, conservative and dependable: a person who provides, who takes rules seriously, who prefers the tried path and is trusted with responsibility early.
The same texts read the Saturn side as worry, rigidity and a tendency to over-give and then resent it when the Moon is afflicted. The Moon's house, Saturn's condition and Jupiter's placement set the balance between warmth and strictness.
Your first Mahadasha: Pushya starts life in Saturn's period
In Vimshottari dasha the birth nakshatra decides the first major period (Mahadasha): its lord opens the sequence, and the Moon's exact degree within the star sets how much of that period was already spent at birth. For Pushya the lord is Saturn, whose period lasts 19 years, so life begins inside Saturn Mahadasha with anything from days to almost 19 years of it left; Mercury's 17 years follow. The Saturn Mahadasha guide covers how that period is traditionally read.
Beginning life in Saturn's nineteen years is a long, serious opening chapter; texts read a Pushya childhood as early responsibility and slow-earned gains, with Mercury's seventeen years taking over in the late teens or twenties and bringing a lighter, more communicative stretch.
How to know whether Pushya is your nakshatra
Your nakshatra is the one the Moon occupied when you were born, measured on the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa by default). The Moon moves about 13° a day, close to one nakshatra every 24 hours, so an unknown birth time can leave two candidates, and the pada needs the time to within a couple of hours. The nakshatra calculator returns the star, lord and pada from your birth details; the Moon sign calculator shows the Rashi.
When to have the AI Jyotishi read your chart for your nakshatra
Ask when you want to know what Saturn does for your Pushya Moon: the Moon's house, Saturn's placement and dignity, Jupiter's support, and how much of the opening Saturn period is behind you.
The AI Jyotishi reads your chart after it is calculated, takes the Moon's nakshatra together with the houses and the running dasha, and lists which parts of the chart it looked at. Software, not a human astrologer. Interpretation, not a prediction or professional advice.
FAQ
Pushya nakshatra questions
Why is Pushya considered auspicious?
Because its deity is Brihaspati, its meaning is nourishment, and muhurta texts favor it for almost every ordinary undertaking. That is a statement about choosing a moment. For a person born under it, the star's promise still depends on the Moon's house and Saturn's condition.
What are Pushya nakshatra characteristics?
Classically: nurturing, disciplined, loyal, cautious, religious or dutiful, good with money and institutions. These are readings of the birth star, not a profile; the Ascendant and the planets with the Moon change them.
Why is Pushya avoided for weddings?
A traditional rule, usually traced to a story in which Brihaspati's own marriage went badly under it; the texts exclude the ceremony while allowing almost everything else. It is a muhurta convention, not a comment on people born under the star.
Who is Pushya nakshatra compatible with?
There is no fixed list. Guna Milan scores both partners' birth stars across eight factors, Pushya entering as deva gana and sheep yoni, and then the two charts are read, with each 7th house and Venus. Run kundli matching with both charts.
Which Rashi is Pushya nakshatra in?
Cancer, entirely: 3°20′–16°40′ of the sign, so every Pushya Moon is a sidereal Cancer Moon.